bhagavÄn api govinda
upayeme kurūdvaha
vaidarbhÄ«á¹ bhÄ«á¹£maka-sutÄá¹
Å›riyo mÄtrÄá¹ svayaá¹-vare
pramathya tarasÄ rÄjñaḥ
Å›ÄlvÄdÄ«mÅ› caidya-paká¹£a-gÄn
paÅ›yatÄá¹ sarva-lokÄnÄá¹
tÄrká¹£ya-putraḥ sudhÄm iva
bhagavÄn - the Supreme Lord; api - indeed; govindaḥ - Kṛṣṇa; upayeme - married; kuru-udvaha - O hero among the Kurus (ParÄ«ká¹£it); vaidarbhÄ«m - Rukmiṇī; bhÄ«á¹£maka-sutÄm - the daughter of King BhÄ«á¹£maka; Å›riyaḥ - of the goddess of fortune; mÄtrÄm - the plenary portion; svayam-vare - by her own choice; pramathya - subduing; tarasÄ - by force; rÄjñaḥ - kings; Å›Älva-ÄdÄ«n - ÅšÄlva and others; caidya - of ÅšiÅ›upÄla; paká¹£a-gÄn - the supporters; paÅ›yatÄm - as they looked on; sarva - all; lokÄnÄm - the people; tÄrká¹£ya-putraḥ - the son of TÄrká¹£ya (Garuá¸a); sudhÄm - the nectar of heaven; iva - as.
O hero among the Kurus, the Supreme Lord Himself, Govinda, married BhÄ«á¹£maka’s daughter, VaidarbhÄ«, who was a direct expansion of the goddess of fortune. The Lord did this by her desire, and in the process He beat down ÅšÄlva and other kings who took ÅšiÅ›upÄla’s side. Indeed, as everyone watched, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa took Rukmiṇī just as Garuá¸a boldly stole nectar from the demigods.
ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« gives the following profound comments on these two verses: The words Å›riyo mÄtrÄm indicate that beautiful Rukmiṇī is a direct expansion of the eternal goddess of fortune. Therefore she is worthy to be the bride of the Personality of Godhead. As stated in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.56), Å›riyaḥ kÄntÄ kÄntaḥ parama-puruá¹£aḥ: “In the spiritual world, all the female lovers are goddesses of fortune and the male lover is the Supreme Personality.†Thus, ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« explains, ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Rukmiṇī-devÄ« is a plenary portion of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī. The KÄrttika-mÄhÄtmya section of the Padma PurÄṇa states, kaiÅ›ore gopa-kanyÄs tÄ yauvane rÄja-kanyakÄḥ: “In childhood, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with the daughters of cowherd men, and in His adolescence He enjoyed with the daughters of kings.†Similarly, in the Skanda PurÄṇa we find this statement: rukmiṇī dvÄravatyÄá¹ tu rÄdhÄ vá¹›ndÄvane vane. “Rukmiṇī is in DvÄrakÄ what RÄdhÄ is in the forest of Vá¹›ndÄvana.â€
The term svayaá¹vare here means “by one’s own choice.†Although the word often refers to a formal Vedic ceremony in which an aristocratic girl may select her own husband, here it indicates the informal and indeed unprecedented events surrounding Kṛṣṇa’s marriage to Rukmiṇī. In fact, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa and ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Rukmiṇī chose each other because of their eternal, transcendental love.
